A Fresh Start
by Sano
Summary: The year is ending and still Tezuka and Fuji haven't confessed their feelings for each other...so now Eiji Kikumaru-kun steps in to somehow help. Yaoi TkxFs, A bit of KxO, and some OOC-ness


Disclaimer: Tennis no Ohjisama not mine and never will be. I just want to play around with the bishie's a bit. But I wouldn't mind keeping Fuji…Oh, but Kinno the puppy belongs to me!!

Warnings: Yaoi TezukaxFuji and a bit of OOC-ness. This is my first attempt at TeniPuri fan fiction so Gomenasai for any mistakes coz' I've only seen up to ep. 29. Please enjoy!!

A Fresh Start

***^^***

Tezuka Kunimitsu fastened the last button of his school uniform close. He took a look out the window. It was already dark, the last day of school before Christmas vacation. He had waited until the courts were deserted before he shed his jacket and practiced by himself. Somehow, he found it unnerving to practice while everyone watched him. He loved to play tennis, but he didn't like the attention that people gave him everytime he had a match. That's why he liked to finish a match quickly and surely.

The cold wind blew in through the window and he wrapped his uniform around his body tighter. Snow might fall any minute now.

After putting on his glasses, he closed the door of his locker and picked up his duffel bag. He turned around, ready for a long walk home when he was faced with a stern look from a redheaded individual.

He would've shrieked, but being the feared captain of Seigaku's tennis club and having a reputation to uphold, he settled for taking a step back.

"Kikumaru? What are you doing here?" He didn't even sense his movement or heard him come through the door.

The small redhead glared at him and placed his hand on his hips. "What the hell am I doing here? Shouldn't I be asking you that? Why are you here at school, practicing your already perfect tennis skills, and not with Fuji?!?!?!" He exclaimed, and Tezuka took another step back.

"I don't kn-" Tezuka started but Eiji cut him off.

"For Kami-sama's sake, it's almost Christmas!!! Don't you want to start the year with Fuji?!?!? Sooner or later we're gonna graduate and you'll be alone and Fuji will be alone and you'll both be sad and you both will end up committing suicide because of sadness and-" The acrobatic player would have gone on till they were college students if not for Tezuka's hand that covered Eiji's mouth.

Even with his hand covering Eiji's mouth the redhead still continued his ramble, and Tezuka grimaced. "Shut up now or you'll regret it later!" He threatened scathingly and the noise abruptly stopped. He forgot about how Eiji got in without him noticing and focused on the matter at hand.

After a few moments of silence, he hesitantly let go of Eiji and let the boy stand in front of him. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the redhead. He was then surprised when Eiji merely stood confidently instead of cowering and following his order, as he would've in their tennis practices. 

"So, what is this nonsense you are talking about?" Tezuka began, his voice bearing the solid leadership that he commanded his team.

Eiji sighed and crossed his arms over his chest in a perfect imitation of his captain. Tezuka made a note of this and would plan his torture of Eiji later. "I was talking about your relationship with Fuji!" He spoke as if he was lecturing a 5-year old, the thought didn't sit well on Tezuka's nerves.

"Relationship? What relationship?" 

Eiji rolled his eyes, for a really powerful person in school and in the tennis court; his captain was incredibly dense in other things. This plan would take a bit of time to execute.

"Ne, Buchou…have you noticed that Fuji has been acting strangely?" He started, hoping that Tezuka would grab onto the bait.

Tezuka's instincts went in, he would always be attentive in all matters that concerned the light-haired boy. "Why? Is there something wrong with Fuji?" He asked, a knot of guilt forming in his stomach. If there was something wrong with Fuji…"Is Fuji sick?"

"No! That's not what I'm talking about!" Eiji exclaimed. "Boy, Buchou…if I knew you were going to be this difficult I should've made some visual aids!" He stopped when he saw Tezuka's raised eyebrow and cleared his throat nervously. He was already treading on dangerous ground here; he didn't want to be discovered chopped up somewhere up in the mountains because of his big mouth.

"I'm talking about his feelings!! You know, love and anger, sorrow and happiness…those kinds of stuff." At Tezuka's confused stare, he refused the urge to whack the taller boy with his racket and tried to explain the situation more carefully.

"Well, you know…since you guys met and you've been really close friends and all and although I was a bit jealous of you because I thought you were stealing my best friend away…anyway, I've been noticing that he's been sad lately. Even when I gave him a little puppy last week he just smiled plainly, and Fuji loves animals!!" Eiji stopped and looked at his captain straight in the eye. "What I'm talking about is that Fuji has been expecting you to make a move and he's been really lonely…and that you should slam him against a tree and kiss the living daylights out of him!!" He finished triumphantly and was pleased to see that Tezuka had turned an interesting shade of red.

"W – What?!?!" Tezuka stammered. Then schooling his features into a calmer mask, he glared at the boy in front of him and spoke indignantly. "How do you know that Fuji's trouble is because of me?"

Eiji rolled his eyes again; really, he'd just whack this guy on the head. "Because he likes you! Fuji has been head over heels in love with you since you guys met!"

Tezuka tried to bring some sort of semblance back into his life, his arms drooped down at his sides, his fists clenching tightly. "Fuji…likes me?" It was really embarrassing, but he can't help but feel happy, next he'd be giggling loudly like a schoolgirl.

Eiji nodded vehemently. "That's what I've been trying to tell you!! So now that you know, you can make a plan on how you're going to get Fuji!!! I know!! This Christmas, you can go to his house and…" He stopped explaining his brilliant plan when the Buchou pinned him with a vicious glare.

Tezuka closed his eyes, his mind trying frantically to keep his cool and to not kill the babbling redhead in front of him. It felt like the world was spinning around him and he leaned on the lockers for support.

Fuji…loves him?

Him?

Fuji Syusuke, the most beautiful and wonderful person he had met in his admittedly short life was in love with him? Him? The coldest person in Seishun Gakuen, the one who hadn't experienced any affectionate contact with any other person had captured Fuji's attention?

Maybe he was dreaming…or maybe the Gods above had a twisted sense of humor.

He started massaging his temple, a really nasty headache brewing. This was just too much information on his stressed brain. He kept his eyes closed and breathed deeply. "Are you sure about this?" He asked Eiji, his voice devoid of any emotion.

"Hai! Fuji told me!" Eiji hoped that Fuji wouldn't kill him if he knew that he was messing around with his love life. So much for best friends keeping each other's secrets…

Tezuka opened his eyes briefly then closed them again. Suddenly he had difficulty breathing. Perhaps this was his only shot at happiness…he did have some deep feelings hidden for the beautiful tensai.

He took in a deep breath, letting the air out slowly.

"So Kikumaru, what did you have in mind?" At his Buchou's answer, Eiji's face broke out in a dazzling smile that would've made Oishi's knees weak and clapped the taller boy's back.

"Good boy!"

As if on cue, the first snowflakes started falling.

***^^***

"Winter is such a beautiful season…" Fuji commented. His face turned up in a blissful smile and a graceful hand holding a glass of champagne. Winter was his favorite time of the year, besides the wonderful occasion of Christmas, it was also because of the blanket of snow that covered the tops of trees and houses. It had a somehow calming effect on him.

Eiji came up behind him and wrapped an arm around his friend's shoulders, giving the small brunette a tight hug. "It's good to see you happy. And may I add that maybe its because of a certain person's presence." At Fuji's blush, he couldn't help but chuckle at his best friend.

The redhead's smile grew wider when he caught sight of the person of the hour. Tezuka was sitting by the Christmas tree, currently nursing his own glass of Champagne. It was really brave of the Buchou to actually come to the Christmas gathering held at the Fuji household. Plus, it was pleasing to see how Fuji and Tezuka somehow avoided seeing each other, and it was so unusual for their undisputed Buchou to stammer whenever Fuji was in the same room.

Yep, this was one of Eiji's most memorable moments.

It was time to begin Plan A. Well, what is Plan A, you ask? Nothing really, just cornering Fuji and hope that Tezuka will have enough courage to make the tensai fall into his arms. 

With a perfect excuse of attending to the other guests, he left Fuji alone in the garden. As he walked past Tezuka, he whispered low enough so that the taller boy would be the only one to hear. "It's time. Go get 'im, tiger!" With that, he left a furiously blushing Tezuka to deal with things.

Eiji hoped that this thing would work.

While Eiji busied himself elsewhere, Tezuka watched Fuji leaning on the wooden pillars of their home. He contemplated if he should stand there and just stare at Fuji all night long. It was a tempting thought. Mostly because the snow falling gently in the garden made the brunette tensai stand out in his bright red sweater, making him look like an angel, a very beautiful angel.

But this was his only chance; all the people were in the dining room, stuffing themselves with the delicious Christmas dinner that Fuji's sister had prepared. It was now or never, either he took the chance to bask in happiness or spend another year alone.

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Tezuka strode towards Fuji. His heart beating so loudly that it made him want to run away, but he didn't, he just kept on walking until he was standing behind the object of his thoughts. He cleared his throat, and prayed to the Gods in heaven that this wouldn't turn out into a complete disaster. 

Fuji noticed his presence and his lips turned up into a gentle smile. "Hey. Merry Christmas." He murmured, his lips forming the word into such velvety softness that Tezuka wanted to just grab him and kiss the beautiful angel until he ran out of breath.

Tezuka nodded in reply and leaned his elbows on the wooden railing, his eyes scanning the snow-covered garden. "Thank you for inviting me." He murmured. His pulse racing and feeling warm, too warm that he wanted to loosen the collar of his sweater.

"No, thank you for coming. Its rare that you actually have time for socializing." Maybe it was just his imagination but did Tezuka just see mischief in Fuji's blue eyes? Maybe it was, but he couldn't be too sure with the brunette. He was too cunning for his own good.

"By the way, that sweater looks great on you." At the statement, Tezuka looked down at his dark green sweater. He suddenly felt very self-conscious and ran a hand through his hair. "Thanks. Oishi gave it to me." He mumbled.

"Hm. That's nice."

Then, silence settled between them. They just watched the falling snow; every now and then Fuji would reach out a hand and capture one of the snowflakes, his face glowing with mirth and childlike quality.

"Uh, Fuji?"

"Yes, Tezuka?"

"I'd…like to tell you something…" Fuji turned to face him, his beautiful face expectant and open. It felt like Tezuka would burst any second, but he kept his cool and laid a hand on the tensai's arm.

"Fuji…I…I…what I wanted to say is that Merry Christmas and I L-"

"Syusuke!!" Yumiko's voice rang out like a shrill bell and broke the trance that existed between Tezuka and Fuji. Fuji's gaze broke away from his and turned to his sister. "What is it, Yumiko-neesan?" He called out.

"It's time to take pictures!!"

Fuji fought the urge to roll his eyes and detached his arm from Tezuka. "Sumimasen, but can we talk later?" Tezuka just nodded meekly at him and he smiled in thanks, then striding towards his sister to take those blasted pictures.

And Tezuka watched him go, feeling utterly defeated even though there wasn't an enemy in sight. He sighed, chugged down the remnants of Champagne in his cup and leaned back onto the railing once more.

Fuji smiled naturally, the flashes of the camera making him dizzy and light-headed, but he smiled through it all, he always did. What was it that Tezuka wanted to tell him? He seemed pretty serious about it.

He promised to himself that as soon as he was finished with these pictures, he'd talk to Tezuka and maybe…finally, he'd tell his captain about the feelings that he'd been hiding from him ever since.

Smiling freely for the first time in days, he snuck a look to where he'd left Tezuka before. His smile faded and his arms fell limply at his sides.

Tezuka was gone.

***^^***

"Don't worry about it too much, Buchou!! There's another gathering at Fuji's place on the day before New Year's!! We can go then!!" Eiji tried to console Tezuka after his little brush off from Fuji. He was sure that his best friend didn't mean it, but their captain was an awfully sensitive guy and he didn't take rejection very well.

They were in Tezuka's house. Eiji went there the next morning after the Christmas gathering in the Fuji household. Tezuka had told him what happened and he immediately felt sorry for his captain.

He squeezed his Buchou's shoulder lightly. Over the past week Tezuka had been nice to him, they were slowly becoming friends because of their plan. But they weren't close enough that Tezuka would confide in Eiji, that was Oishi's job after all.

Speaking of the vice-captain, where was he?

"He should be in one of the street courts, practicing." Eiji took a double take when Tezuka spoke. His voice low and calm.

"How…"

Tezuka looked down at his shoes, a smirk on his face. "You always get that look on your face when you think of Oishi. Like a child in a candy store." Did Eiji think that he was the only one with problems? He wasn't that dumb not to notice such things.

"Hidoi!! I am not a child!!" Eiji's face fumed for a moment and he glared at Tezuka. But having known Oishi's location, he patted the captain's shoulder one more time. "Well, since you're well enough to insult me, I'll just go on ahead, ne?" He walked off, his mind filled with Oishi. "Don't forget, New year's. You'll start the year with Fuji by your side. I'm sure of it!" Tezuka shook his head at the redhead naiveté. 

He sure hoped so.

***^^***

It was like a movie replaying itself in Tezuka's head, he was sitting in one of the comfortable couches in the living room and he was watching Fuji stand in the garden. He and Eiji were playing with some sparklers; at some point they even tried swatting each other with the sparklers like really ridiculous swordsmen.

It made him want to smile.

Eiji saw Tezuka staring at them and he smiled mischievously. He waved at him and gestured for him to come over. Fuji saw him too and called out to him; unable to resist the tensai's smile Tezuka obeyed and went over to them.

"Here, have one!" As soon as he was within reach, Eiji handed him a sparkler and lit it up with his own. Tezuka took an involuntary step back as the sparkler lit up, the fire shining brightly, too brightly that there were circles before his eyes. 

Fuji watched his captain hold the sparkler, chuckling quietly when Tezuka winced at the bright light. Poor baby, he thought, and then took away the sparkler from Tezuka's hand, their fingers brushing against one another for a blissful second or two and he fought the blush creeping up his neck. "You'll have a headache if you stare at this too long. Oishi and Inui had already given up." He tilted his head towards the aforementioned boys sitting on the grass, both massaging their temples to rid of the headache caused by the bright sparklers.

"Weak men!" Eiji declared. He waved his sparkler in the air like a torch, his lips turned up into a dominant smile.

"Hey!! We're not weak!!" Oishi and Inui looked up at the same time and chased Eiji around the garden, promising certain death for the noisy redhead. Eiji just cackled gleefully and ran, they'd never catch him anyway.

Tezuka and Fuji watched them, both amused at the show. All the Seigaku regulars were present in the gathering. Momo and Ryoma were talking in the corner; Kaidoh was playing with Fuji's new puppy named Kinno, a gift from Eiji last week, and lastly, Oishi and Inui chasing a rather unfortunate Eiji around the garden.

Yuuta came out to announce that it was only thirty seconds before the New Year would come. And everyone stopped whatever he or she was doing. Voices chanted, counting down the last seconds of the year.

"20…19…18…"

"Fuji…" Tezuka mumbled, suddenly he wanted to confess. He had to start the New Year differently, preferably with Fuji by his side. He forgot his nervousness and faced the tensai confidently.

Fuji turned to him, his face open and expectant again. Tezuka would not fail this time. He would have Fuji even if they cut off both his arms and legs.

"Isn't this exciting, Tezuka?"

"10…9…8…"

Tezuka breathed deeply and grabbed Fuji's shoulders, the tensai perhaps emitting a surprised squeak. "Fuji…I…"

"5…4…"

"Fuji…I love you!" 

"3…2…1…" Tezuka tilted up Fuji's chin and pressed their mouths together, just as shouts of 'Happy New Year!' were heard all around the house.

Fuji couldn't believe it. Tezuka was kissing him!! Him!!! Him!!! It felt like a bomb had gone off inside his head. He was unable to process this bit of information for the moment, but then it sank in and he wrapped his arms around his captain's neck, his fingers burying themselves in the soft brown hair. He just couldn't get over the fact that Tezuka's lips were so soft and warm…so unlike the cold demeanor that he showed daily…

Both of them felt so incredibly warm all of a sudden, like they both just drank lots of sake. They were both sated and comfortable in each other's arms.

They continued kissing as if neither wanted to let go even if they ran out of breath, totally lost in the moment. Tezuka was about to slip his hand under Fuji's sweater and feel the warm and soft flesh when a 'click' resounded in his ear and there was a bright flash. He broke off his lips from Fuji, though he was unwilling to do so, and glared at Eiji, who was triumphantly holding a Polaroid and waving the precious snapshot in the air.

"Yatta!!! I did it!! I did it!! I've got a picture of Buchou and Fuji kissing!!!" The redhead was jumping all around, all the while avoiding the clutches of the other Seigaku regulars who were trying to get a hold of the picture. Momo almost succeeded but he got away again and ran around the garden, the others chasing him. Except for Ryoma and Kaidoh that is, who just watched the scene in bewilderment.

"Teme…" Tezuka muttered angrily. He was going to kill Eiji!! That sneaking little…his mind was already devising ways on how to kill the redhead slowly and painfully but Fuji laid a hand on Tezuka's cheek and turned it towards him.

"Hey. You're supposed to be looking at me." Fuji pointed out, a soft smile on his face and his other hand tracing lazy circles up Tezuka's arm.

Tezuka prevented himself from shivering and leaned his forehead against the other. "Fuji…I…" He was rendered silent when the tensai placed a finger over his lips.

Fuji's smiles looked up at him happily. "No, its okay…in fact, I wanted to say something too…Happy New year and I love you too…" He pulled Tezuka closer and captured his lips, his fingers tangling themselves in his soft hair again; somehow he couldn't get enough of the soft strands.

For the first time in years, Tezuka smiled. He deepened the kiss and enveloped Fuji's small body in his arms, never wanting to let him go.

It was a very good New Year indeed. And he'd be able to spend it with Fuji by his side.

**^Owari^**

Nanjaro Hoi Hoi!! So, what did you think? I hope it was okay because I think this isn't very good. It's my first attempt after all…and since the Holidays are here I kinda got the inspiration. I had Kaidoh playing with the puppy coz' if you still remember that episode titled 'Karupin's adventure', you'll know that Kaidoh has an affinity for animals. I just find it so adorable!!

Please review and Arigato Gozaimas for reading!!


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